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Board authorizes police to send tentative offer letters to academy recruits
Summary
The Plattekill Town Board authorized the police department to send contingent letters of intent to academy recruits to retain candidates earlier while background checks and required training continue. The policy shift was presented by Deputy Chief Smith amid staffing shortages.
The Plattekill Town Board voted to authorize the police department to send tentative letters of employment to academy recruits, a change officials said is intended to retain candidates earlier in the training pipeline.
Deputy Chief Smith told the board the department will start offering contingent letters in "phase one" of recruitment so the town can secure recruits before competing departments do. He said any offer would remain conditional on completion of background checks, required testing, and a 180-hour field-training/probation period during which a recruit can still be released.
"Once we say you're hired, we go through the contingency because we have a contingency letter which will say the background's got to be fully completed," Deputy Chief Smith said, describing the department's plan to lock in recruits earlier while preserving the right to terminate during probation.
Board members pressed for specifics about guarantees and contract length. A supervisor asked whether the town could require a one- or two-year commitment; Deputy Chief Smith said the department is "looking into" longer commitments but that policy and legal constraints currently limit such contracts.
After discussion, a motion was made and seconded to permit the police department to send letters of intent to academy recruits, enabling staff to move more quickly with conditional offers. The motion was put to a vote; the transcript does not record a roll-call tally.
The board and police said the letters would be followed by standard background checks, job testing and the 180-hour field-training sign-off that finalizes an officer's status. Board members asked the department to circulate candidate applications promptly so members could review them between meetings and respond within the requested timeframe.
Next steps: the department will forward applications to the board for review and proceed with contingent offers when the board gives its informal approval between meetings. The board did not record a formal vote tally in the transcript.
